Disembodied heads, men in bear suits, and outrageous love scenes were all in a day’s work for Elle Fanning on the set of her new Hulu series The Great (now streaming).

In it, she plays the eponymous young Catherine the Great, the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, as she plots to overthrow her husband, the mercurial Emperor Peter (Nicholas Hoult). Created by writer Tony McNamara (The Favourite), the satirical dramedy prides itself on only being “occasionally true” and frequently anachronistic, and as such it revels in its ludicrous moments.

EW spoke with Fanning about all those wild scenes, the changes she insisted on as an executive producer, the future of the series, and more.

This is the first time you executive-produced a TV series. Why was this the right project to jump into that?

This wasn’t necessarily something that I went after to produce, the script kind of came to me. And it was a gift in that way because Tony had thought of me when thinking about doing the show. The script that I read [first] was actually a film script that was based off a play that Tony had written and had put on in Australia. And the script spans all of Catherine’s life, mostly, so the young part was just a sliver. So when he gave it to me, he’s like, “Well, you know, there’s maybe the possibility of it being a TV show and you could play the young version, and the first season would be about her rise to power.” I hadn’t even seen The Favourite, so I had nothing to compare it to. So of course the script shocked me in a new and amazing way. And he asked me if I wanted to produce it and come on and go and pitch with him. And so it really was all amazing luck.

There’s something to be said, given all Catherine the Great did in her lifetime as the late 18th-century ruler of Russia, that the unfortunate bestiality rumor — you know, the one about the horse — remains.

“Fake news,” said Elle Fanning on the Variety After Show, presented by National Geographic, on Instagram Live. “It’s pretty sad [that] this extraordinary, almost — dare I say — first feminist icon has been reduced to this horse rumor,” she said.

Fanning plays the Russian empress in her new Hulu satirical series, “The Great,” which kicks off with Catherine’s arrival in the country to wed the mercurial, temperamental Peter (Nicholas Hoult). Her optimism about the union is quickly dissolved as Hoult’s Peter soon reveals his capacity for cruelty and selfishness, leading to her plans for a coup. The show, as Variety critic Caroline Framke puts it, “straddles the line between period drama and slapstick comedy with acrobatic ease.”

The stars of the new TV miniseries about Catherine the Great, ‘The Great’, already have a great deal of experience behind them, even though they’re still pretty young. Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning both started out as child actors — Hoult made his first film when he was just 7 years old, while Fanning made her debut at age 3! Now that they’ve both made it to adulthood while maintaining successful careers, they told us why they feel like they were able to beat the notorious child actor curse.https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Elle_Nichaols-_TheGreat.mp3

The lineup of stars and creatives for our fifth annual Deadline Contenders – Television event has just been announced, and it represents the largest number we have ever had. Twenty-two studios and networks with a total of 44 shows are included for this all-day virutal edition, which be livestreamed Sunday, June 7, starting at 8 a.m. PT.

Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult talk to ET’s Katie Krause about their new Hulu series, ‘The Great,’ which premiered May 15. Elle also opens up about starring opposite sister Dakota in their new movie, ‘The Nightingale’ and how this pandemic has affected production.

An unassuming building in the heart of East London is transformed into an imaginative interpretation of 18th century Russia for this wildly satirical, history-bending new series. From the lavish ballrooms to the gold-leaf candelabras, creator and writer Tony McNamara and production designer Francesca Di Mottola describe the intricacies of creating the “unpolished, realistic, decadent” kingdom of Emperor Peter (Nicholas Hoult) that a young Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) walks into as she is married off to the tempestuous ruler. Costume designer Emma Fryer discusses charting Catherine’s arc through her clothing, and bringing a contemporary aesthetic to period costumery with modern fabrics. Explore the details that bring the colorful, seductive and dangerous world of Peter and Catherine’s story to life.

As her Hulu biopic about Catherine the Great drops, we speak to the 22-year-old star about the women who inspire her, and her life as both the series’ lead and producer.

Before the global pandemic, when human contact is still an everyday occurrence, we meet Elle Fanning in one of her favorite restaurants in the Valley, where she was born and raised, to talk about her latest role. With a script by Australian screenwriter Tony McNamara of The Favourite fame, she jumped at the chance to work on a TV series about the young Catherine the Great, who became the Russian empress after overthrowing her dastardly husband, Peter the Great, played by Nicholas Hoult. Following the coup d’etat, she went on to rule the nation for 34 years, embracing the European ideas of the Enlightenment, extending its borders and governing during a period that became known as The Golden Age. We ask the actor what it was like to embody one of the most powerful female figures in history in The Great, available to stream May 15.

What appealed to you about Catherine’s character?
She’s a beautiful character because she’s very curious, and she always has a second plan and a third and fourth and fifth plan. And she makes mistakes. And she doesn’t claim to know everything. She’s open to learning from other people and even Peter, though his style of ruling is horrible. And she’s a great manipulator.

The story of Violet and Theodore, who meet and change each other’s lives forever. As they struggle with the emotional and physical scars of their past, they discover that even the smallest places and moments can mean something.

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